The Essential

AllMusic Review
by John Bush

A straight repackaging of the 1988 collection The Best of Julie London: The Liberty Years, The Essential Julie London is a solid (though not perfectly selected) compilation of Julie London's 15-year career at Liberty, her only label. The two songs most commonly associated with London -- "Cry Me a River" and "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" -- are accounted for, though a few other highlights from her career ("You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To," "No Moon at All") are missing. In their places is a parade of standards that certainly fit her bored sex-kitten performing persona: "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend," "Take Back Your Mink," "An Occasional Man," and one song written by husband Bobby Troup, "Daddy."